Te Aratohu mō te Kopou me te Whakauru Mema Poari Guide: Board Appointment and Induction Guidelines (BAIG)

A good appointment process is robust and timely. For these reasons, applying these good practice guidelines well is important to Ministers and other appointers, and to candidates who are making themselves available for public service.

Application of these guidelines also contributes to transparency of the appointments process. Publicly available information on appointment processes helps to provide assurance that Ministers and departments have applied good practice.

Who the guidelines are for

These guidelines are issued under section 44(b) of the Public Service Act and apply to the Public Service including Crown agents, autonomous Crown entities (ACEs) and independent Crown entities (ICEs) when advising on appointment of relevant board members. They may also be helpful for those involved in other public sector board appointments, including statutory tribunals, tertiary education institutions, royal commissions, and advisory committees.

The guidelines are for anyone involved in government board appointments, unless there are provisions in individual agencies’ legislation that state otherwise. The guidelines should be followed in conjunction with using judgement when deciding the best approach to use in each circumstance. The guidelines have a strong focus on statutory Crown entity appointments and inductions.

Other government bodies and agencies include many that are linked to ministerial portfolios and whose members constitute a board or its equivalent without employees (e.g. Queen Elizabeth II National Trust) or that serve as the governing body (e.g. Māori Television Service).

In 2022, Cabinet agreed that when making board appointments, responsible Ministers should ensure monitoring departments follow good practice processes set out in Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission’s (the Commission’s) Board Appointment and Induction Guidelines, and if not, outline in any appointment paper why the Guidelines have not been followed [APH-22-MIN-0195].

Cabinet also noted that some high priority Crown entity chair roles may benefit from an enhanced recruitment process, consisting of earlier Ministerial consultation and additional support from the Commission. This would include earlier and wider consultation by the responsible Minister with their Ministerial colleagues.

Who the guidelines don’t apply to

These guidelines are not intended for public service officials giving advice about appointments to the boards of State-owned Enterprises or Crown entity companies. The Treasury provides guidance for appointments to companies owned by the Crown. More information is available at

Company and entity performance advice — The Treasury

Roles and responsibilities

Ministers have ultimate responsibility for most appointments. The appointment processes are deemed to be delegated to the department concerned unless the minister requests they are handled differently. Step 3 in the flow chart is the point where the recruitment process would normally be discussed and agreed with the responsible minister.

Departments should give their Ministers periodic briefings of the overall upcoming board vacancies, covering all the entities within the minister's portfolios. This should include the objectives and functions of each entity, current board membership, fees, and allowances, which members' terms are expiring, whether they’re eligible for reappointment, and suggestions for revised skill sets or succession planning for the board in general and the chair in particular.